Queer photographer releases portrait book of Atlanta creatives on Sept. 25
In his first book, queer Atlanta fine art photographer David Clifton-Strawn celebrates the diversity and vibrance of Atlanta’s arts scene. “After a Long Intermission: Portraits from Atlanta’s Creative Community” presents 100 portraits of painters, sculptors, writers, burlesque performers, dancers, actors, gallerists, and other beloved and influential artists that call Atlanta home.
Clifton-Strawn’s journey to releasing his debut book was a long one, as its title alludes. He started as a photographer in his early 20s but fell away from the medium after his partner died from AIDS. He picked the camera back up in his 50s to start this project but got sidetracked again by the COVID-19 pandemic. After receiving the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs’ 2022-23 Emerging Artist Award, he was inspired to complete the project he describes as a celebration of the people who make up Atlanta’s arts community.
“When I was photographing people, we would usually sit around [in my studio] for a couple hours just talking and getting to know each other before we even started shooting,” he said. “We had great conversations about their viewpoints on art and their own practice and process.”
“After a Long Intermission,” Clifton-Strawn says, embodies the quote from the iconic portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz: “When I say I want to photograph someone, what it really means is that I’d like to know them.” In his work, Clifton-Strawn hopes to make his subjects feel comfortable with the vulnerability of being photographed so that he may capture something true about the people they are.
“I want to try to capture something that reflects my experience of being with that person,” he said. “I want it to be about them, I want them to be celebrated in the pictures.”
Among the 100 artists and creatives photographed in “After a Long Intermission” are Krista M. Jones and Royce Soble, both of whom join Clifton-Strawn as members of the queer artist collective FRANK; vocalist Robin Latimore; muralist Joe Dreher; painter Michi Meko; sculptor Kevin Cole; drag queen Brigitte Bidet; High Museum of Art photography curator Gregory Harris; and photographer Chip Moody.
“After a Long Intermission” hits shelves on Sept. 25. Clifton-Strawn will be selling and signing copies at the Atlanta Art Fair on Sept. 27. To learn more and pre-order the book, visit davidcliftonstrawn.com.
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